BEING a bad guy can be very satisfying. You get to cackle maniacally while twirling your villainous moustache. You are also free to carelessly lob damsels in distress into crocodile infested moats.

Though there is a downside, as River City star Grant Stott discovered.

Grant, who is playing a diabolical scoundrel in Sleeping Beauty at the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh, was recently confronted by a fervent fan turned fiendish foe.

He describes the altercation as the cutest heckle that’s ever been delivered to him in panto.

“Whilst in full evil flow, a little, tiny voice bellowed, ‘I used to like you!’ at me halfway through Act 1,” says Grant. “Beautifully timed delivery, too.”

Rules and fools

THE Diary continues its mission to discover a modern Robert Burns. Gavin Weir writes in with this poetical tale of political impropriety…

‘Tis the season to be jolly,

Wi’ grub, balloons and a fu’ drinks trolley.

But when the country gets locked down,

It causes us tae moan and frown,

As Boris acts as the Xmas clown.

He joins his cronies at a party folly

In No 10, a paper cracker crown

placed loose upon his scarecrow napper,

(Blind love only, could style him “dapper”)

But hey, there were no rules broken.

For Boris, rules are merely token.

And Hubris is the word most spoken.

Neigh travel restrictions

A PHOTOGRAPH of the Govan/Yorkhill ferry appeared in The Herald on Saturday. A reader tells us he frequently travelled with his parents on the boat, and recalls the imposing notice, which read:

"Drivers of horse-drawn and other vehicles shall, upon the vehicle coming to rest, scotch the wheels, both fore and aft, with the chocks provided for that purpose."

It was a different era indeed, notes our reader. When horsepower meant exactly that…

Full metal jacket

THOUGHT for the day from reader Garry Connolly: “When you put a seatbelt on, you are wearing your car.”

Chocs away

CHRISTMAS is less than three weeks away, by the Diary’s calculations. Though according to reader Bernice Roberts it’s closer than that.

With firm conviction, she says: “According to my chocolate advent calendar, Christmas is tomorrow.”

History lesson

A HELPFUL tip from reader Brian Wadham regarding how to understand political events that shaped our great nation: “1603. Scotland’s James VI becomes James I in England…. the Union of the Crowns.

1707. Scottish/English Parliament is formed… The Union of the Clowns.”

Shop strop

I WAS so shocked when my wife called me lazy,” says reader Maurice Hare, “I nearly fell out of the supermarket trolley.”